One Direction Vs. The Wanted: Heating Up Or Wrapping Up?

Craving a good old-fashioned boy-band battle? Well, if you thought the Backstreet Boys and ’NYSNC played it a little too clean back in the day, you’re in luck with this latest throw-down.

The fellas in One Direction and the Wanted are giving pop fans one hard-to-ignore war of words. Over the holiday weekend, members of the two groups had it out on Twitter, trading some feisty barbs.

But it was a moment that had been brewing for some time. Let’s take a look at how it all started.

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Back in March, the relationship between the groups
seemed fine. Speaking to MTV News at the time, 1D’s Niall Horan shared, “We all know each other. It’s the same in the U.K. as it is here: Everyone knows each other. We haven’t seen the Wanted in a while. We just haven’t been in the same place at the same time. They’re really nice guys. And every time we’ve met them, we’ve had a good laugh with them. The more, the merrier! Let’s bring the British invasion over here and show them what we got.”

Since then, the sentiment between the groups has taken an interesting, more aggressive turn. And as the guys grow closer to a potential meet-up at Z100’s annual Jingle Ball
concert December 7 in NYC, tensions seem to be at an all-time high.

“If you want to create that rivalry, then let’s do it,” 1D’s Louis Tomlinson told Now magazine earlier this month, noting that it was the Wanted “badmouthing” 1D
in the press that led to the tension. “We’re not bothered about the friction or the rivalry. But I’m not going to shy away from it, because that isn’t the person I am. I don’t think it’s fair to me or any of the lads.”

After that, the guys of the Wanted spoke to Glamour U.K., throwing down the gauntlet for a boy-band meet-up in NYC. “I like how he’s quite passive-aggressive with everything,” Jay McGuiness said in response to Tomlinson’s comments. “Like, before he says anything, he says what we’ve done. But we’re going to see them in New York — we’re doing a gig with them in Madison Square Garden — so I think let’s go to their dressing room and say, ’Boys, so, what exactly have you heard? Here’s the truth, and here’s what we’ve heard.’ ”

Things really heated up when Zayn Malik and Max George got into it on Twitter last Friday, with Malik poking fun at George for enthusiastically tweeting a photo of himself with Psy.

From there, the two traded insults like boxers in the ring, with punches being thrown about their hair (which, in the world of boy bands, is pretty sacred) and provocative suggestions about their personal lives (the word “chlamydia” was used at one point). The Wanted’s Tom Parker and 1D’s Tomlinson even tried to defend their pals but were lampooned by the main parties.

In the end, George echoed McGuiness’ suggestion that they chat it out in person, writing, “tell me you’re problems without the 8 security in NYC.. The only problem I have with you is the sh– banter. Grow up son.”

The Wanted addressed the Twitter beef in an interview with Channel 955 at the Detroit Jingleball on Saturday, and George tried to brush off all the drama.

“I’m not sure what his problem is, to be honest,” he said. “It started off that I thought we were just having a bit of banter, but he seemed to get a bit serious. I tried to palm it off as being friendly again, but you can only take so many insults, and eventually I just said, ’All right listen — if you’ve got a problem, come and see me in New York when we’re there doing a gig together and we’ll sort it out.’ It won’t last long.”

Only time will tell if these guys hash it out face-to-face at MSG, but we hope they can all get along. Hey, maybe they’ll even perform together! If you ask us, there’s plenty of room for both boy bands to make us swoon.

Are you taking sides or hoping for peace? Let us know in the comments!